Following a lacklustre outing in the four-match Test series, Australia made a stupendous comeback and won the first ODI of the three-match series against India by 34 runs at the renowned Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Moreover, they won their 1000th international match and took an important 1-0 lead in the series. India had their moments, however, their opponent outclassed them in all the departments.

Australia post a competitive score

The home team won the toss and elected to bat first and the decision backfired initially as Aaron Finch perished early to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Alex Carey promised with 24 runs and he became Kuldeep Yadav’s first victim. Then Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh steadied the ship and put on 93 runs from 111 balls. Khawaja went on to score 59 runs and eventually fell prey to left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.

Shaun Marsh, after scoring 54 runs from 70 balls, succumbed to Kuldeep. Thereafter, Peter Handscomb and Marcus Stoinis took charge and added 68 runs for the fifth wicket. Even as Handscomb notched 73 runs from 61 balls with six fours, Stoinis flung the willow to score 47 runs from 43 balls with two fours and as many sixes. A couple of lusty hits from Glenn Maxwell made sure that Australia amass 288 in 50 overs.

India stutter in run-chase

The visitors didn’t have the best of starts to the run chase as Jhy Richardson got rid of Virat Kohli and Ambati Rayudu while Jason Behrendroff accounted for Shikhar Dhawan’s wicket. Nevertheless, Rohit Sharma and veteran MS Dhoni didn’t play any rash strokes and put together 137 runs for the fourth wicket. Dhoni scored a half-century in 93 balls, but was trapped in front by the left-armer Behrendroff.

However, Rohit carried on and accomplished his 22nd ODI ton in 110 balls. Unfortunately, he didn’t have adequate support from the other end and eventually perished to Stoinis after scoring 133 runs from 129 balls with 10 boundaries and six hits over the boundary hoardings. After his dismissal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar entertained with a breezy 29, but by then the match was all over bar the shouting.

Virat Kohli, the Indian captain, said

We are not very pleased with the way we played. I thought we could have done better with the tempo of the game. It was a 300+ wicket. We thought 280 was chaseable. Rohit was outstanding and MS supported him well. They took the game deep, MS got out at the wrong time. If we would have had one more partnership, we would have been close. Rayudu got a good ball, Shikhar was out on the first ball and I hit it sweetly but straight to the fielder. The defeats like these make you aware of the things you need to improve on.

Aaron Finch, the Australian captain, said

Ya very pleased with the performance. We needed to take it deep with the ball and took the wickets at the crucial time. I thought we got a par total, Peter played a gem. In the middle period we played really well. We didn’t score a lot of runs in the middle overs but we saved the wickets for the final overs. Jhye and Jason are full of confidence, they both have a good future ahead of them. We can always improve, it will be a good series.

Jhy Richardson, the Player of the Match, said

Credit to them, they gave us a run for our money in those middle overs. When you have a team three down early, it becomes difficult to bounce back. I am very happy to get (Kohli’s) wicket, but more happy with the win. As a bowling unit, we are clear about our plans, doing our homework and being professional out there. I think it was about assessing the conditions more than anything else. Felt like bashing the wicket was quite difficult here. In the end, it became easier to bowl with the softer ball. My finger’s fine.